Young Assassins
by Elizabeth Bower
Summary: It wasn't characteristic, not overtly anyway. But she had saved his life, and he would repay her in full. Just as they had for three years. As close as they were, it was merely a friendship. Vetinari saves the life of a friend a few days after Snapcase's rise to the Patriciancy. And his journey through life with her.
1. Prologue

There was a small sound as the girl hit the ground. She rolled, and then slammed her body into a wall. She had not fallen straight forward, but rather, very far to the right, and she did not appear to be getting up.

The boy turned, his ice blue eyes, usually so calm, flickering over her weak form. Blood was pooling around her hips. She didn't bother whimpering. She didn't expect to be rescued, and besides, she wasn't going to die a sniveling pup. It would give those boy's too much pleasure to know she'd died so...girlishly.

Many boys would have looked upset or regretful and then run on. He could hear the sounds of the guards distinctly as they came after the two, shouting about finding a blood-pool some two blocks distant...maybe five, the walls could bounce sound so well this time of night. Many boys would have run on, and recounted later on in life that it was sad, but it had been impossible to save her.

But no. She'd stood by him, protected him...taken a _dagger_ for him. He could not leave her, if for no other reason than she had done that. You didn't leave people like that to die.

He turned back swiftly, kneeling by the girl and pushing her jet black hair away. Her pale face was twisted in pain, and she looked like she was shaking. She was, he knew, from his gentle but firm grip on her shoulder.

"Elizabeth, we have to move..."

"I can't...I just can't..." she whispered, her features softening slightly. He noticed the tears running down her cheeks. They were tears of pain. She couldn't make a noise, it would be too demeaning. But she could cry. "Just go...they can't catch you...you're a damn good one on the roofs," she muttered, chuckling softly.

_She's lost a lot of blood...I have to get her somewhere soon..._

"Elizabeth, I'm not leaving without you. Now, _get up_."

His voice was cold, but at the same time, it encouraged. She looked at him, her grass-green eyes misty and yet...there was not only fire, but iron in her eyes. A will to live, or take as many down with her as possible. He held back a smile, for her benefit.

The girl slowly stood. Her straight black hair was snarled in places, matted with blood in others. Mostly other peoples.

"Come on then...before your magic wears off," she hissed, and he held back another smile as she started a quick sprint. The guards had to be only a few streets back now...

"Come...we need to get off the main streets. I know a low warehouse we can get onto."

He was surprised to find it was _her_ addressing _him_. She was panting, nearly stumbling now. But every time she stumbled, she caught herself before she fell, righted herself, and plowed on, actually out-distancing him if he wasn't thinking for even a second.

He followed her through the narrow alleys, both silent unless she took a sudden turn and he nearly tripped over her, at which point he usually ended up catching her, and steadying her shaking form.

In the end, they were just outside the Shades, and the boy knew she was beginning to fail. She had been going on adrenaline and willpower, but she needed to rest, she needed to be bandaged. And he knew one man who would do it, few questions asked...

"Elizabeth...just a few more streets. I know someone who can help," the boy murmured, and he coaxed her up from the wall for one last sprint. She followed his lead without question, and he was surprised to see the blue on her hands. She really was losing a lot of blood...looking back, he saw that the place she had stopped had a small puddle. This close to the Shades, not a problem. Luckily.

* * *

The boy pounded on the door, and after a moment, a very quick moment, the man answered.

"Dr. Lawn?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to take care of her...I can pay you for the trouble."

The pox doctor opened the door and admitted them. The boy was now carrying the girl, who was now shivering and complaining about the cold. Uncharacteristic concern flickered on the boy's face before he turned to Lawn. The doctor motioned to a room, and the boy laid her out on a table.

Impatiently the boy waited for Lawn to look her wounds over. He insisted on staying, though he had to admit, the network of scars and the fresh stab wound on her torso made anger flare in him. She had been a Scholarship Kid. But she'd been better than him at defending herself. To see her scars only reminded him of the times she hadn't been able to do so.

Lawn sighed, and shook his head.

"Will she live?"

There was uncharacteristic shortness in the boy's tone, but even worse, there was concern. He was letting a weakness show. _Forget it,_ he thought. _She took a damned dagger for me, I can be concerned._

"It's certainly not good...she'll be out for a day or two...what's her name?"

"Why do you need to know?" the boy snapped.

"Because if she dies, I want to be able to tell her family."

"She doesn't have any. Her family died."

"I see. I need her first name then, so that she doesn't kill me when she realizes I've seen her naked."

There was a long pause as the boy looked over the girl on the bed – Lawn had moved her, for comfort. The long black hair, now washed but still matted and snarled, the pale face, murmuring in her unconscious state. The red lips, so thin and frail-looking. Her delicate features – he hadn't realized how frail she always seemed, her attitude had always made up for it. She was about his height, and she...she had a wonderful body. Perfectly curved, a good chest. And yet...her muscles and callouses suggested her line of work. Hands calloused from five or six years of clutching a dagger, muscled legs and arms from the running and hanging onto the walls.

"Her name's Elizabeth. Might I stay? I think she'll be more inclined to stay and get better if I'm here when she awakes."

"I have a spare room. Five dollars a week, and believe me, you'll be here a week."

The boy nodded, and when dismissed so the man could work, nodded silently and then slipped upstairs. He heard the doctor murmuring until he got to the room upstairs, where there were no sounds from behind the door. That was a relief. Her quiet moans of pain had been bothering him.

Shaking his head as he opened the door, the boy slipped over to the bed and removed his black Assassin's coat and boots, and then his trousers. His shirt and drawers he left on, just in case.

His blue eyes stared at the wall for some time before he let them drift closed. Let them think what they wanted. His relationship with Elizabeth D'Angelo was strictly a friendship...a close one, granted, but it was _not_ romantic.

Slowly, the boy leaned back into the pillows and pulled the blankets over him. His slight frame was wiry and tall, and his features equine and gaunt. But handsome, in their own way. Just as hers were equine and thin, but very pretty, beautiful even, perhaps. At seventeen, he was quiet and polite. Especially to women. Even female Assassins had his respect and polite tongue.

The blue eyes closed and stayed that way, even though he was awake much of the night. He fell asleep shortly before dawn. But his mind was plagued with thoughts of his friend's death. If there was one person he could trust with nearly everything, it was her. He had no fears of her ever betraying him, and this latest show of loyalty and trust from her was proof of that.

With those thoughts sitting primly in the forefront of his brain, Havelock Vetinari slipped into sleep.


	2. The Recovery

**Chapter 1: Recovery**

The boy fell asleep shortly before dawn, and woke about seven-thirty that morning. The house below was silent, and he took the liberty of getting dressed in his blood-soaked trousers, leaving the coat on a hook in the room.

Slipping downstairs quietly, he had to admit that he would have felt better if there was some noise. The doctor snoring, perhaps, or Elizabeth murmuring in her unconscious state.

Ah yes...he should go check on her. Surely waking up naked in a room like Lawn's surgery would be terrifying, or at least unsettling. Even for a girl like Elizabeth. The naked and wounded would be the first thought though.

Slipping inside, Vetinari realized why it was so quiet. Elizabeth was on the bed, facing a pillow in her sleep, and Lawn, the kind man he was, was sleeping in a chair beside her bed, but he looked comfortable and exhausted.

Vetinari decided to ignore the doctor and instead sat down lightly on the bedside, grabbing a brush and gently running it through her black locks. Her eyes flickered open, and she went to reach for a dagger before she made what most men would have called a whimper. Vetinari merely called it a yelp and caught her hand before it reached his chest.

"Elizabeth...hush. You're safe. I wouldn't intentionally let you be hurt," he said quietly, watching as she shivered violently as the pain hit her system. He merely smiled thinly and pulled the blankets further up.

"Why you, Vetinari?" she whispered, but he noted that, in her barely-awake state, her hand had sought out his and was shakily trying to hold it. He could only say that he was surprised, but he didn't take his hand away.

"Why what, Miss D'Angelo, you must be more specific."

"Shut up, you bastard," she whispered, but she was slipping again, he knew. Her grip was slowly getting weaker, but he smiled and then stood, nudging Lawn.

"I'll make you breakfast, shall I Doctor?"

"If you wish...I think the Guild will be wanting a report, though."

"I shall go there directly. After I've eaten."

Lawn smiled faintly and then slowly began to remove bandages from the girl's chest. The cut looked not only deeper than it had last night, but nastier. The dagger must have been very long, and serrated on one side...

Anger swelled in the boy's breast before he turned and exited the room. That was a cruel thing to do to anyone...a serrated dagger! Forgetting the Assassin's Guild's teachings, it was...cruel. It was heartless, it was barbaric! He'd been stabbed once or twice...he could only imagine a serrated blade being slid into your flesh and then wrenched out at a different angle. No wonder it had bled so much...no wonder she had yelped.

Cooking the meat Lawn had selected wasn't that hard, and it's sizzling made it impossible to hear what Lawn was doing, a minor miracle the boy thanked any god he could think of for.

Sighing softly and finally serving the meat, drizzled in thick brown gravy, the boy ate before he knocked on the surgery door.

"Doctor Lawn? Your food's ready, it's still in the pan...I put out the fire, so it'll be warm for only a short while," he called, then slipped out the front door.

It wasn't a long walk to the Guild, but it was certainly made longer by his slow walk and the annoying stickiness in his trousers. It was made worse by the unusual worry that clouded his usually clear thoughts.

Trotting up the Guild's steps, Vetinari slipped into the office.

"Good morning Master Vetinari! Er...didn't the young Lady D'Angelo leave with you-"

Vetinari nodded quietly. He liked Mr. Maroon, in his own way, but...the man was too open. Too...not dumb, he _was_ perceptive, in a way. But he was the kind of person that people like Vetinari found, at that age, unnervingly kind, and the openness made it worse.

"She's at Dr. Lawn's place, Mr. Maroon. Got stabbed. If you'd be so good as to inform Dr. Follet and the teachers? We should be gone a week," he said, politely pushing the ledger back. Mr. Maroon seemed confused.

"She was stabbed? How badly? Will she be alright? And...why will _you_ be gone, sir?"

Vetinari decided to answer the first three. He did not feel the fourth required an answer. They'd taken assignments together before, and Mr. Maroon was looking for confirmation that it was romantic between them.

"Yes. Badly, and she will live. She should be alright in a week's time, or at least, able to walk and run," he said, giving a brief smile to the duty porter and then stepping upstairs.

"Where are you off to, sir?"

"Getting a change of clothes and a quick bath. I shall need both," the teenager replied before he slipped up into his dorm, grabbing his trunk and deciding against it. Instead, he changed into a whole new suit, and brought a change of shirt which he wore under it for the sake of ease.

Then, he took a bath. It was not long, or even very warm, but it did rinse the blood, grime, and sweat from his body and hair before he dried off and got redressed. And he was out the front doors again, without the duty porter noticing him, in ten minutes flat.

Getting back to Dr. Lawn's was another matter. He decided finally on using the rooftops, as the traffic now was too close for his comfort, and he wanted to get back as quickly as possible. The idea that maybe she would wake for him again made him smile quietly, though it was more like the barest hint of a smile. She had woken when he had sat down, and though she had most certainly been delirious, she knew it was him, and she was willing to try and talk.

However, running into the President of the Assassin's Guild is not something every student does. It is also not often you saw the man _walking_ back, but Vetinari chose to ignore this obvious fact.

"Ah, young Vetinari. I was wondering where you and D'Angelo had got off to. How did the contract go?" asked Doctor Follet. He was a slim man, getting a bit far in years compared to some Guild presidents, but he was, on the whole, a decent man, and Madam quite liked him. And his lute-playing.

Vetinari took a moment before answering, however. Follet was a keen-minded sort, probably the best thing Madam liked about him. It would be a good idea to be truthful...just not tell the entire truth.

"Not as smoothly as I would have liked, my Lord. Miss D'Angelo was stabbed, and is unconscious and delirious. I have taken her to a friend, who will take care of her until she can return to us safely. I will be remaining by her side, as she does not know my friend, and will likely consider him a threat. I am there to serve as protection and reminder, my Lord."

"Good boy. Very elegant, and polite, of you. Ensure it doesn't turn romantic, and then return to the Guild when she is well enough. With the pair of you, I would like her to be able to resume training. Incidentally, Madam says you did quite a good job, though the guards were a bit unfair, in her opinion. She also says she wants you to encourage such loyalty in others, not just the girls."

Doctor Follet gave Vetinari a pointed Look before he strode off down the street, back towards the Guild. Vetinari watched him for awhile, then turned and climbed onto the nearest roof, thinking as he ran along the tiles and stonework.

Well, that explained how he knew about the assignment...and why he hadn't seemed surprised she'd been stabbed. So, Madam was watching him again. Damn. He'd have to watch out then. The Aunt's were all well and good, but she had other, less reputable spies, and that would make it difficult to perform some of his preferred methods.

* * *

Vetinari arrived at Doctor Lawn's in time to hear the man curse, and dashed through the door. The sounds of falling metal on the stone floor hurt his ears, but he had to admit, the scene before him made some small part of him want to double over laughing.

Elizabeth had apparently momentarily regained her senses, and seeing Doctor Lawn hovering over her bare body, had grabbed the first thing that had come to hand – it had, pleasantly for Lawn, been a giant spoon. What he used it for Vetinari politely refused to think about.

So, spoon pointed at him, she had stumbled on her shaky legs, and knocked over his tools. Still holding the man at spoon-point, she had tried to stand, and ended up just knocking more tools around. All the sharp instruments were, in fact, not only by him and Doctor Lawn, but so far out of her reach as to be funny. The blue around the wound, however, sobered his mind immediately. She was still bleeding, slowly and weakly, but bleeding.

He had to intervene...before she tore the poor doctor to pieces with a blunt spoon.

"_Elizabeth_," he snapped, and she went rigid hearing his voice. And then she looked at him, and a look of horror covered her face. The spoon clattered to the floor and she immediately curled up on the floor, hissing something about being sorry.

Then Vetinari realized why she was so scared, in the regular teenage boy part of his mind. She was naked, and he, her friend, had just seen every part of her front. He had ignored it, but she not only couldn't know that, she was delirious. Even if she normally would have, she wouldn't know that now.

Vetinari crossed the distance between them in moments, hesitating before he touched her. Her back was smooth and softer than he would have thought. Like silk, really. She was trembling, murmuring apologies in a constant stream.

This was so..._unlike_ her. Normally she'd have thrown the spoon at his face like a knife, and then yelled him out of the room. Or possibly kept throwing things until she reached the sharp instruments. He'd be out of there like a shot if she had something sharp and pointy in her hand.*

Sighing softly, he decided that the best thing for it was probably to try and act as comforting as possible. She hadn't been treated kindly in several years...maybe she needed it. And if not, there were plenty of things to hit him with to signal that she was really quite fine, thank you.

"Hush...just let the doctor take care of you...he's a friend of mine. Come on Elizabeth...just go back to sleep, and let him make sure you live," he murmured. Her green eyes looked at him sharply, and he expected either to be hit or graced by her sharp tongue. But her gaze was more detached than usual, and he felt her let go. Her adrenaline rush had faded again, and she sagged on the floor, going limp and letting her eyes close.

A rare sign of trust. He took it as it was, he didn't want to insult her, and then he cautiously lifted her from the cold floor and lay her out neatly on the bed, brushing her hair from her face and then standing. He covered her shivering body with a blanket, then turned to the surprised doctor.

"You should seal that cut, doctor...it's still bleeding." the boy said helpfully, then slipped out of the room, and upstairs. Maybe he could think about things some...it sounded like something he'd usually do...wait.

"Doctor Lawn? You wouldn't happen to have a book on medicine around, would you? A good one, I mean?" he asked lightly, looking curiously quiet as he did so.

"My room, third bookcase on the right, third and fourth shelves. Pick what you want from the whole bookcase, the two shelves just contain all of my better books on medicine. Some are in Klatchian though."

"That won't be a problem, Doctor. Thank you," the boy said quietly, then nodded his thanks and ducked silently back into the hall, shutting the door. He could hear the doctor cleaning up his supplies and moving them further from the bed. Probably a smart idea, really.

* * *

*She was actually a better aim than he was, and when angered, had fewer qualms about actually throwing the weapon. In some ways, he had to admit (to himself of course), she scared even him a bit.

* * *

The reading was slow going. Even the coldest of people had those they cared about in a friendly way, and with something like this, any friend should be deeply concerned. The boy was of course, but he hid it well, eyes scanning the book on...yes, skin diseases. Why not? You never knew when some strange thing you read would be useful.

The boy sighed, and glanced at the page number, then outside. The sun was setting...and now he heard Lawn emerge. But he didn't go downstairs immediately. Instead, he leaned back, thinking quietly to himself. His boots were carefully off the bed, though most of his legs were on the small, musty thing.

_She took a dagger for me._ Well, this was all well and good, but why did it matter so much to him? He'd nearly taken daggers, arrows, even a sword once. But...she'd always known about them, she just had nowhere to move. He hadn't seen this man, not until she called his name and then was suddenly behind him. And when he'd turned, it had felt like an age later, the other man was ripping the blade from her lower belly, and he had heard the fabric ripping under the blade's force...and then his own dagger had found the man's neck, without his thinking about it, and they had run, him partly dragging her. And they'd made some good headway, some _very_ good headway, before she had stumbled.

_Hm...perhaps, when she awakes, _he thought quietly, then nodded and sat up.

Lawn already had dinner going, and seemed tired and sore.

"I liked my breakfast this morning...simple, but very good. Where did a young lord like you learn to cook so well?"

"My mother insisted I be taught. I liked it, so I didn't mind being told to learn it. Cooking is a very useful ability, besides the obvious fact that it can feed you."

Lawn smiled faintly at that and served their dinners. He left a small portion in the pot, and Vetinari assumed it was for the other teenage Assassin.

"You called me a friend, of sorts, in there," Lawn said absently, after he'd just set down his water. Vetinari shrugged softly. It had seemed a good thing to say, and it had calmed her down a bit.

"Vetinari, I've sewn shut cuts for you, I've seared your skin back together to prevent infection. I know you killed that man who was after Keel. How do you know that Madam doesn't pay me to keep you safe?"

The boy looked up, and a small, genuine smile tugged the corners of his mouth into a very small, faint smile that was gone like lightning.

"Because, Doctor Lawn, if you were you wouldn't be such a caring man. You want to genuinely help people, forget the politics, and Madam doesn't get along well with those who disregard politics. That, and I would have been paying you much longer. She only met you a few weeks ago. I've known you for going on two years now."

The older doctor smiled faintly and continued eating. It was as comfortable a silence as a doctor can have with a boy he'd seen without a shirt. Usually it just involved Lawn treating, with alcohol and bandages, the worst cuts he'd gotten from a stray knife. Sometimes that cut was in just the wrong place, but that was fine. Besides, in Ankh-Morpork, if you got a scrape in the Shades, you had better go to Lawn, in case it got infected on general principle.

But he'd never come to Lawn with something as bad as this. He'd never been in a situation like it with someone he actually cared about as a _person_. Elizabeth was a friend, she made him laugh and smile sometimes, and she was always there to deter Downey or anyone else. A family as old in the Assassin's Guild as it was possible, the D'Angelo's were richer than most anyone in the city (apart from the Ramkin's, who were _the_ richest). And she was always there for First Year's too, and Scholarship Kids.

The boy slid his chair back silently and motioned to the food. "Shall I bring her her food? And some trousers, which I'm sure she'd appreciate," he asked, giving the doctor a calm look that said quite plainly he was going to do at least the trousers with or without permission.

The doctor returned one that said quite plainly that he knew that, and wasn't going to bother saying no.

"Of course. I think I have something in her size in the surgery. They've been cleaned, I assure you. I think there's some underwear for her as well, though her top, I'm sad to say, can't be covered yet."

"That's fine, Doctor. I think she'll be content with that."

And then the boy was striding off, sighing and carrying her food ahead of him, like a shield. With the foresight of one who knows he's dealing with a hurt Assassin, when he reached the door he opened it a crack and called, very softly, into the room. He could hear that she was awake, though she still sounded delirious and tired.

"Elizabeth? I have some food here for you," he called softly, and she obliged his caution with a whimper. Taking this as his signal to come in, he stepped around the door. She was curled in the fetal position, shaking softly in what he guessed was pain. He guessed her whimper had been involuntary, but he wasn't assaulted with the book she had just slipped under the pillow again, so he guessed he was safe.

"You're a bastard..." she muttered, as he sat down beside her and offered her the food. She looked at him with unfocused green eyes, nearly as piercing and cold as his own, before she seemed to give up. She sat up slowly, her ample bust bouncing. She had flushed as he took her hands away from her chest, and for once he noticed that she was very self-conscious. She didn't act like a girl, or a young woman, she acted like a boy. You seldom noticed her chest because wore loose clothing over very skin-tight stuff to keep it from showing.

But unlike many boy's his age, after coaxing her up he coaxed her to lie down flat, and then lean against the wall. Her flush began to fade a bit as he twitched a smile.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Elizabeth. Just to feed you," he murmured. "And you can call me Havelock if you want to. I call you by your first name," he added softly, mostly as an afterthought. She'd never called him Havelock, not in all the five years they had known each other.

"I don't like Havelock...I like Vetinari," she murmured, and he noticed that she was having trouble holding the fork. He frowned slightly. Her fingers were trembling in...fear? She had gone pale again, and her lips were trembling as much as her fingers. Was she afraid of him? _Yes...she is afraid of me. I've seen her hurt, and now I'm here while she's too weak to even eat properly, she's naked, and I'm healthy, strong, and a boy. A lot of worse men would just take advantage of her, hurt her...has this happened to her before?_

His curiosity, however, was dampened by his slight pain at her fear. He'd known her for six years. He had thought she knew him better than that. And yet...it would explain so much, if someone had done this to her before. Not the stabbing, but the taking advantage of her.

"Elizabeth...I'm not going to hurt you. My aunt has already told Doctor Follet. You're safe here, Elizabeth."

"No...I'm not safe anywhere..." she whispered, and he blinked slowly. She wasn't looking at him, she looked terrified and hurt. And trapped.

"Elizabeth...have I ever given you a reason to fear me? I have never hurt you, I've always protected you, just like you have always protected me. Please...just eat. If you can't do it yourself, I'll force feed you," he said softly. As it was, she seemed to be drifting again, and only nodded slowly, seemingly calming down and relaxing.

And a few minutes later, after she was nearly half done with her food, she crawled into his lap, and lay there. The boy looked down at her in confusion, but she didn't seem to be inclined to move. In fact, she was already asleep. Her chest moved up and down slowly, and he looked around cautiously. At least she'd eaten something...but she'd need to start drinking again tonight. She needed liquid.

"Doctor Lawn?" the boy called, though it was only loud enough to carry through the house, not to wake the girl.

The doctor was there in seconds, looking at him for a second and then trailing his eyes down to Elizabeth. "She trusts you. A lot, I should think. I assume you'd like to get some sleep, then? Yes, of course you do. Go on then, I'll make sure she sleeps," the doctor said softly, and Vetinari nodded before slipping her head off his legs and then standing.

"She ate most of it...but I don't think it was enough, really."

"No, it's not, but it's better than nothing. Come on, let's get her dressed...as dressed as we can, anyway," the doctor murmured, and Vetinari helped him pull her underwear and a very loose skirt on. It was very short, and the boy suspected it had been cut so that it didn't tangle her legs up. That just showed that Lawn cared though, so he let it pass.

Then both men retired to their rooms, surprisingly tired for men who had spent most of the day sitting about.

Next morning, Vetinari woke to a scream. It sounded like Elizabeth's, though he'd only heard her scream once, and that had been five years ago. But it was followed by a loud cursing, that was definitely her voice, and he smiled before he got redressed and strode downstairs silently.

Knocking and then entering the surgery, he leaned on the door frame while Doctor Lawn tried to disinfect the cut and it's various tears. Elizabeth was making this difficult by twisting away like a cat every time he brought the alcohol-soaked cotton-ball close to her wound. She seemed fully functional again, wide-awake and, to Vetinari's amusement, she was cursing the poor doctor.

"Elizabeth, do you need me to hold your hand? That's what a lady would have me do."

"I am not a lady, Vetinari, just as you are not a lord. You're a bastard, and I'm the female equivalent. So shut your godsdamned mouth!" she snarled back, but Lawn looked gratefully towards him before he touched the alcohol to her side. She arched her back a bit, hissing in pain and then twisting when he removed it. Blood began to seep through the infected cut.

"It wouldn't be this bad if you'd let me do this yesterday!"

"I didn't know you and I was delirious! Just get it over with!"

Lawn sighed and then continued, and Vetinari realized there was very little blood, but a lot of pus. Infected bodily fluid. No wonder Lawn looked anxious. Well, besides the fact that her nails were actually _puncturing_ the cloth covering the mattress.

When he had done as much as she was willing to endure, Lawn grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped the cut again, sighing softly. "I'll have to change it in about two hours...and every two hours until all that pus is out," he said gruffly.

"Go and rest some, doctor. I think I can keep her company for the moment," Vetinari said softly, and got a soft hand on his shoulder that translated as the tired doctor's thanks.

The young Assassin sat down next to the girl, who glared at him with those cold, angry green eyes. Her eyes were so green they were almost emerald, and his were so pale a blue as to be considered a _real_ ice blue.

"What do _you_ want?"

"I told you last night, Miss D'Angelo. Have you forgotten so quickly?" he asked, deciding she wanted something real and normal. He guessed correctly, as their various arguments usually reinforced their friendship. Usually because, unlike many of their fellows, they found intelligent points and ideas, along with well-informed opinions, in the other. For him it had been something he'd always sought for in another boy. For her, he knew, she had sought it in anyone.

"I don't remember much of last night...or yesterday at all...I remember you carrying me after we got to the Shades to lose the guards, but that's it. I don't remember reaching this place."

"Ah. Well, last night you had a few moments where you were almost normal, though you were...unusually sensitive. I mean emotionally, of course," he said, correcting quickly at her sharp glare.

"You saw me naked, Vetinari."

"Yes."

"You carried me naked, Lawn tells me."

"Only from the floor to the bed, Miss-"

"Elizabeth. I hate that 'Miss' crap you try whenever I snap at you."

"As you wish, Elizabeth."

They looked at each other for a minute or two. Her glaring at him angrily, obviously looking for something to hit him with, and him looking at her coolly, regarding her with those calm blue eyes that many found so much colder. She just found his silent threats amusing.

"What did Doctor Follet say? Lawn said you mentioned bumping into him."

"Yes. Apparently he'd spent the night at my aunt's. He said that he wanted us back whenever you were well enough to go to practice again."

"And what did Madam make him tell you?"

The boy paused, and remembered who he was talking to. She knew him better than anyone, except maybe his aunt, and she knew when he wasn't telling her everything. She didn't usually pry, but when she did, he usually let her know. This, however, he wasn't willing to share quite yet.

"Not right now, Elizabeth. Perhaps when you're better, and can consider stabbing her informants."

"As you wish, Vetinari."

He didn't bother pointing out that she could call him Havelock again. She obviously didn't want to, and he wasn't going to make her call him by his first name. If she wished to call him by his surname, than he wouldn't stop her. She never insulted him with it, unlike many of the others.

"Why don't we play a game, Vetinari."

The boy was pulled from his musings by her eyes on him, and the small, evil grin on her face. Oh yes, and then there was that side of her that liked to play with his mind, but only ever when she was sure they were safe and alone. She never went too far, either. Her apparently brusque mannerisms, or more boyish tendencies never went too far, and as long as she never crossed the line, he could deal with often in private she could be brusque and short, he knew that that hid an intelligent, rather eloquent mind. Not so much so as his own, by her own admission, but far more so than was average.

"What is it you had in mind, Elizabeth?"

"It doesn't have a name. Basically, we ask the other a question in turns. But if we don't want to answer a question truthfully, or it'd be embarrassing, we kiss each other. Or remove a piece of clothing, whichever you prefer, Vetinari."

He sighed. She did like that sort of game, and he had to admit, with her it wasn't so strange as it normally would have been.

"I think I'd prefer kisses this time, Elizabeth. You only have two pieces of clothing on."

She smiled, in a way that in most other girls would be considered cruel. He refused to comment.

"You start, Vetinari."

"As you wish. Let me see...what is your favorite color?"

"Blue-black. What is your favorite color?"

"Hard choice...I'd say that very dark gray or green I tend to wear, rather than the Guild uniform. What was your mother's name?"

"Maya. What was your mother's name?"

There was a silence. Even though he knew she knew it, he had told her in private, he wasn't willing to repeat that.

"Alright, _I'll_ kiss _you_, you big baby," she snorted, and he gave her a faint smile.

"No, I'm just thinking how best to do it. Would you prefer romantic, or just the cheek?"

"Is there even a question in there? Handsome devil like you?" she replied, rolling her eyes and then smiling as he carefully but quickly pulled her into his arms and leaned down to kiss her. She moved her head forward, just enough to make their lips touch. Hers were softer than his, but had never worn makeup. Hers were also warmer, he noted.

Still, they took a moment before they pulled away, and she returned to her previous position breathing slightly harder than normal. She had flushed, and he noted how very easily she could use herself as a distraction for him in any ballroom. Or, more accurately, for their target. Girls like her were to be sought after, and if she could lure them away from the main room...

He gave her a quiet smile.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked, smirking at her.

"...Are you _sure_ you've never courted a girl?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Good then. Your turn for a question."

"Was it? Oh yes, I suppose it was. Let me see then...how long have your family been Assassin's?"

"About six or seven generations. Yours?"

"Just me I'm afraid. Did anything...unpleasant ever happen in your household?"

She sighed softly. "I think I'll take another kiss, Vetinari."

He nodded briefly, and this time settled for her cheek, his lips just brushing the skin. To her credit, she didn't shiver, even though it must have tickled.

And so the day passed, each asking questions they knew the answers to, each deciding to take a kiss at varying times, just to break the monotony. Both found themselves pulled into the others arms, looking at the ceiling, and being romantically kissed at least five times. Like good friends who enjoy the others company, neither dared let it be anything more than that, because otherwise they might lose the friendship.

Eventually though, as the sun began to set, Elizabeth leaned all the way back, listening to her friend talking about politics, and within seconds she was asleep, her breathing calm and measured. Vetinari smiled then, small and private, before he pulled the blankets over her more completely and then stood on weak legs.

Doctor Lawn was coming in as he was leaving, and Vetinari shook his head. "She is sleeping now...let her sleep, Doctor. She seemed pretty exhausted since about...maybe midday?" he said, shaking his head. Lawn nodded, and they made their way to the kitchen, where they sat down to another dinner.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she? You seem...uncertain still," Vetinari asked slowly, eating his food quietly.

The doctor sighed and leaned back nervously. "I think so...but she's very weak, and she hasn't had anything to drink since she came here, and very little to eat. And she hasn't gone to the privy yet...maybe just because of how weak she is, her body isn't wasting anything, but...I don't know. I need her to drink and eat more," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

Vetinari nodded quietly and then finished his food and began working on the dishes while the doctor checked on Elizabeth again. When he was finished, he retired to his room, and undressed again, leaving his trousers on.

That night, Vetinari recalled the first time he had ever met Elizabeth D'Angelo. It sounded cliché, the more he thought it over. As if they had stepped out of a book and met. And yet...she was such a unique character...

* * *

_It was the beginning of first semester, and Vetinari was a First Year_ _at the Assassin's Guild. There had already been some names and problems, but that was fine. He'd heard worse before._

_Very quietly, the door to the classroom opened. Very few noticed the girl who slipped inside, wearing the same horrible uniform as them, including the trousers. She had raven black hair that already reached to the middle of her back. Pretty, soft features that at the same time held an iron hardness to them, as if she had seen bad things but had become stronger through them. She waited patiently until the teacher noticed her, in this case, Doctor Follet himself. He spared her a smile, and motioned her up to the front. She moved gracefully, like a cat, with the same easy muscle tone._

_She stepped up to the front and as he introduced her, she corrected him so quietly no one could hear._

"_My apologies. This is Elizabeth D'Angelo, she will be a new classmate of yours. I believe that you, Young Vetinari, should be her guide for today, I think she has most of your classes."_

_She murmured something else to the president of the Guild, and then looked up at Vetinari sharply, studying him silently. He studied her in turn, and for the briefest moment, they both smiled. Her smile was so cool, lightning quick, and hinted at nothing except her amusement._

"_Yes, Downey?"_

"_Doctor, is she a Scholarship Kid?"_

_Vetinari and the girl turned to the young Lord Downey, who was one of the richer boy's in the city. Vetinari carefully made his face blank, but the girl chose to murmur something to Doctor Follet, who smiled._

_Curious, Vetinari watched as she stepped down from the podium at the front of the room and slipped easily up to Downey's seat. She moved without that purposeful sensual look many girl's their age tended towards. She slid up onto his desk, and said, loudly enough for the entire class to hear: "I am a Scholarship Student by force, Mister Downey. My family have been Assassin's for six generations, and my parents recently died. I am the only child, and my money is being held by a trustee. I came to Doctor Follet and asked him personally if he could admit me. He agreed. Would you like to question your President's choice, Downey? My mother's family habitually married Assassin's...my father's family traditionally were the Assassin's my mother's family married."_

_There was something in her voice, Vetinari realized, that unnerved Downey to extraordinary lengths. He was twisting, avoiding her gaze...which was hard, as the desks were small and she was sitting primly on the edge of his._

_And then, with a brief, reptilian smile, she slipped back up to the front._

_Doctor Follet gave her a brief smile and murmured something else to her, and then she nodded and came up to sit next to Vetinari, looking him over once and then sighing heavily._

"_So far, this is thoroughly disappointing."_

_He turned, and realized that she had spoken to him. She gave him a mischievous smile._

"_Miss D'Angelo-"_

"_Just call me Elizabeth. I'm not my mother, and I am perfectly happy to not be a D'Angelo."_

_He was astonished. She didn't want to be tied to her family name, very few girls were like that. And most of them were ditzes about life. She seemed intelligent, if a little blunt._

"_I'm Havelock Vetinari...of the two, I prefer Vetinari myself."_

"_Then that's what I'll call you."_

"_Sounds good. Do you need something to take notes with?"_

"_Yes, please. My aunt threw me over here and has all my money, so I can't actually buy anything yet..."_

"_Quill, or pencil?"_

"_Pencil, I hate ink-stains."_

_He handed her the box of pencils he'd been given, assuring her that he had another and besides, pencils were relatively cheap._

_They spent the day together, talking quietly when they could afford to, sitting beside each other constantly. He had found someone with a mind as good at observing as his, and she was intelligent and sarcastic in her turn. A little more emotional than him, except when the older kids tried to bully them. She had found a boy who treated her like just another person, not some rich young lady to be wooed. He talked to her intelligently, remarked upon things about her without judging, asked her polite questions and listened to her answers._

* * *

Vetinari shook his head, and rolled over. She'd always been the one to talk back, especially to Downey. She always told him off for making fun of Vetinari, and every time she heard Downey insult her friend, he usually found himself pinned against a pillar, with his friends backing up hastily and acting as if they'd never seen him before. Downey couldn't blame them, either. Because even Vetinari knew that his friend could be a savage and ruthless opponent. In _Thud!_ she gave him a difficult challenge, and in Stealth Chess she was among the few who could keep up with his moves and think out her own quickly, while they discussed their opinions of politics. She always lost Stealth Chess, but it was never by much, and in _Thud!_ they seemed to trade-off winning.

He sighed softly. She was the most intelligent person he knew so far in his life, outside of his family of course. He looked forward to going on the Grand Sneer with her, as they had agreed early last year that when the time came they would go together.

Now, that looked dull and uninviting. He always enjoyed their chats, even over lunch. And she did indeed take almost every class with him, including Language. The only one she didn't take with him was Poisons, preferring instead her Archery or Blade Throwing, depending on the year. She was adept at both, more skilled than him and receiving some of the highest marks in both. She'd broken her father's record for Blade Throwing, and her uncle's for Archery. Not that she was the best, there were three or four students who were more skilled than her in both.

She certainly was amazing though. Like him she got high marks in almost everything she did, although she did rather badly at Poisons, when he tried to teach her. Or perhaps she did it with more...creativity. Instead of using the proper mixes, she tended to wing it and mix things. They'd had several enjoyable evenings cleaning up her messes, and he often had to admit that they _were_ very deadly, though some of them were inelegant. They never told Doctor Follet or anyone else though, because it would have meant her expulsion, just as his tendencies to go out in the darkest green or blue-black would have.

The rest of the week went by steadily, each of them quietly speaking in their turn about politics, the new Patrician, and even Vetinari's aunt, though they steered well clear of mentioning hers. Next year she'd get her money, and she'd hire someone to kill that woman for her. Vetinari silently agreed. Her aunt, on the few occasions he'd been forced to meet her, was an annoying, possibly insane, and very cruel woman. She'd held back Elizabeth's allowance for the pettiest of reasons, and then lied to the lawyers when Elizabeth complained to them. Vetinari's aunt usually paid the girl her allowance instead, for she seemed to like Elizabeth a great deal.

As it was, Elizabeth could now wear a shirt, and she could walk around the house with some effort, though she often doubled over and ended up in a lot of pain. The cut was in a bad place for walking, apparently, and often times the boy ended up helping her walk.

She'd been allowed to keep her dagger with her though now, so she was much happier on that account.

* * *

**AN:**** Look, I know this is a bit odd. However, as I am trying to update End of an Age, and Elizabeth makes an appearance, I wanted you to have some reference. The second chapter for this is still being worked on, as is the rest of it, but jsut suffice it to say that while she may love him, he does not love her back. Any love in this is one-sided at best.**

**Also, I may make mention of the events of the Glorious 25th of May. This is set about a week after Snapcase is made Patrician, and they are running from an estate. I apologize this isn't on the Prologue, but I figured it more prudent here, where she shows some affection. His 'love' is more of a very close friend's.  
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**Now that that's been established, I can continue with my other story. My updates have been slow due to personal home and school issues. Suffice it to say, I think you shall enjoy this in the absence of any updates from me anywhere else.  
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**Read and review please?  
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